Improve Planning and Scheduling Capacity by 75-80%. Access Orchestrate Production Planning and Scheduling Software providing day-to-day scheduling, capacity planning and what-if analysis.

1. Production
Planning and
Scheduling Software
Day-to-day scheduling
Capacity planning
What-if analysis
Access
Orchestrate

2. Access Orchestrate is now brought
together through Access Workspace,
bringing a new view of your business
performance and data, including
communication and collaboration
tools that increase efficiency and
productivity to inform quicker, more
effective decision making.
Stand-alone, integrated with your
current ERP system or part of Access
ERP suite, Access Orchestrate optimises
your production planning by increasing
capacity, efficiency and accuracy.
Production planners and engineers
no longer need to rely on complex
spreadsheets, whiteboards and paper-
based systems for critical path planning.
In a constantly changing production
environment, Access Orchestrate shows
you a clear way forward no matter what
is happening.
Urgent sales need to be prioritised and
fulfilled? Stock hasn’t arrived? Stock
is left over and needs to be used? A
job has taken more or less time than
expected? The list of variables is
endless – but Access Orchestrate
always reveals the best response with
your available resources.

3. Capacity planning
Conduct detailed
analysis of capacity
long before full
production begins,
highlighting areas
where equipment will
be over- or
under-utilised
Day to day
scheduling
Intuitive Drag and
Drop Gantt chart puts
planners in control
and allows changes to
schedules to be made
easily and quickly.
‘What-if?’ analysis
Quickly and accurately
test different scenarios
and answer the
‘what-if? questions.
Everything you need out of the box
Increased visibility
and accuracy
All the information you
need in front of you in
comprehensive, easy
to read and accurate
management reports.
No more guesswork.
Real-time
management
insight
Identify bottlenecks
based on accurate
data and report on
problems areas
with heatmaps.
On premise
or Cloud
Choose the hosting
option that suits your
business requirements.
If you pick our Access
Alto cloud-based hosting
solution running VMware,
you can rest assured your
installation of Access
Orchestrate will always
be available with a 99.9%
uptime SLA guarantee.
Stand-alone or
integrated with
existing ERP
We understand each
business has different
requirements, so we’ve
built Orchestrate to
accommodate an array
of systems. We have a
standard methodology
for integrating with any
existing ERP, MES, or
QA system. Orchestrate
is designed from the
outset as a planning
and scheduling system.
It is not reliant on an
ERP and is often used
independently of any
other software as a fully
stand alone system.
Access
Workspace and
KPI dashboards:
insight into all
aspects of your
business
Access Workspace
transforms the way
you access information
throughout your
business, giving you
real-time insight and
analytics on a single
platform.

4. Day-to-day scheduling, capacity planning,
what-if analysis
Production schedules and
capacity management
Access Orchestrate lets your production
planners and engineers perform at their best
by reducing the amount of time they need
to spend simply staying on top of a rapidly
changing environment and allowing them to
make faster decisions. Access Orchestrate
lets them spend their time applying their
wide-ranging knowledge and experience, not
updating spreadsheets.
You benefit from day one. Access Orchestrate
gives you a clear view of your production
schedules, plans, activities and progress,
and can be configured to suit your exact
requirements. We can also integrate Access
Orchestrate with back office systems to create
end-to-end interaction.
Day-to-day scheduling with
Drag and Drop Gantt Chart
Simple ‘drag and drop’ functionality puts the
planner in control.
A clear picture of predicted bottlenecks plus
accurate stock forecasting.
Instantly adapt your plan using the Drag and
Drop Gantt chart.
Simple user defined ‘work to’ lists can be
accessed throughout departments.
Customise and filter the information
displayed for each department or user.
Alert your team with visual warnings and
flags to prompt action on late orders or
machine downtime.
Add Works Orders to the Gantt Chart simply
and quickly.
Operators can start, stop and complete
tasks within a user specific agenda.
Improve communication between
departments with one central production
schedule.
Reduce your batch footprint, with more
accurate forward planning of each task.

5. Capacity planning
Proven modelling to determine your
predicted factory capacity.
Complete visibility of customer order lead
times and promised dates.
Easily view and understand available
capacity.
Evaluate the impact of change and the
‘knock on’ effect to customer service.
Drive your planning using a mix of customer
orders and forecasts.
Reduced downtime between shifts for
batch handover.
Equipment and labour utilisation
can be improved, with maintenance
being accurately planned around the
manufacturing batch.
‘What-if’ scenario planning
Easy evaluation of alternative plans and
outcomes.
Compare multiple options.
Make more informed decisions quickly.
Easily change orders and understand the
repercussions on the rest of the plan.
Plan multiple Works Orders simultaneously
taking in to account equipment, labour and
material constraints.
Evaluate scenarios with standard reports to
prove the optimum production schedule.

6. Improve your performance against KPIs
Orchestrate does not replace
production planners
It gives production planners and engineers
the tools and platform they need to make
faster and more efficient decisions without
resorting to complex spreadsheets and
paper-based systems for critical planning.
Make full use of capacity: use your
resources to boost production (and profits)
and eliminate the risk of missing a buffer
or task, as every task is included within the
Access Orchestrate process.
Ultra-efficient scheduling: use Access
Orchestrate for critical path planning,
automating planning outcomes that take into
account all tasks and their dependencies (eg
people, machines, tools and parts) in real-time.
Crucially, you can still make adjustments and
apply your extensive knowledge as needed.
Just in Time (JIT) and lean manufacturing:
consistently meet JIT and lean principles and
expectations with real-time information and
instant control of your resources, labour
and materials.
Reduce stock holding: get the balance exactly
right so that you’re comfortable everything is
always on hand when it’s needed.
Greater management insight: even when
schedules are constantly changing, the wider
business can still see the full picture in the
form of comprehensive, easy to read, accurate
management reports.

7. Production KPIs
On Time In Full (OTIF)
Consistently achieve over 98% OTIF.
Predict delivery dates with confidence with
‘what-if’ scenario planning.
Prioritise orders to meet tight deadlines with
more agile planning.
Shorten lead times by reducing downtime
between processes and synchronising
multiple activities.
Increase accuracy and improve delivery
performance for customers with live data
updates.
Just in Time (JIT)
JIT materials ordering avoids over-stocking.
Balance your loads over multiple resources
to smooth out production peaks and
troughs.
Create a lean operation by intelligently
predicting correct stock levels and improve
your cash flow.
Real-time ‘work to’ lists show where
production variances are occurring.
Identify material availability and
ability to meet purchase order
requirements quickly
Resource correctly for Work In Progress
(WIP).
Maximise internal capacity and reduce the
need to sub-contract to external companies.
Accurately forecast daily labour needs for
scheduled orders and save on temporary
staff costs.
Improve workforce and machine utilisation
by identifying skill shortages and training
requirements.
Plan Works Orders to be completed Just in
Time and reduce WIP.
Accurate scheduling and JIT production
minimises inventory and improves cash flow.

8. Full visibility with a single version of the truth
Remote access
Carry a portable production plan around on
the shop floor on your tablet or mobile phone,
accessing data from anywhere at any time.
Book time and progress against the plan in real
time using your mobile device.
Analyse progress against the plan and gather
data to drive continuous improvement.
Communicate a clear and up-to-date plan with
instructions to production operators.
360° visibility
Intuitive graphs and the Drag & Drop Gantt
Chart let your staff view orders and keep on
track, wherever they are.
Manage production effectively to maximise
utilisation and efficiency.
Easily make changes to your production
schedule and see updates in real time with the
Drag & Drop Gantt Chart.
See who and what will be affected by taking
on new orders.
Improve collaboration and make more
accurate forecasts for your internal and
external suppliers.
Ensure purchasing is aligned
to production
Review your manufacturing performance
against the plan on multiple levels.
Report on machine and labour utilisation
and analyse real time progress against plan.
Examine the scheduling and financial
impact of multiple production plans using
‘what if’ scenarios.
Create ‘on time delivery’ statistics
and reports.
Set up user defined alerts and notifications.
Collate data from multiple sites or
departments for a complete, graphical
dashboard view.
Add Access Dashboards for web-enabled
business intelligence.

9. Problem heatmaps
Tasks on the Gantt Chart can be coloured by
their ‘lateness’ creating a heat map for areas
of concern.
Order ‘lateness’ can easily be measured
for any given scenario.
Evaluate utilisation of machine and
labour resources.
Integration and data import
Deploy as a stand-alone system or ERP
integrated solution.
Integrate with legacy ERP or other
applications to avoid data duplication,
disconnected information and human error.
Easily link production planning with your
manufacturing execution systems.
A standard integration template using APIs
to connect your systems.
Interface with existing applications such
as Microsoft Access, Excel and other stand-
alone databases.
Data connections to Access SupplyChain
ERP and Access FactoryMaster MRP
available as standard.
Import data from any other system
using Odbc, OleDb or SQL Server data
connections.

10. Orchestrate delivers more than simple
project management
Access Orchestrate is
easy to use and a major
part of its simplicity is
the Drag and Drop Gantt
Chart; a component also
found in simple project
management tools such as
Microsoft Project.
But that’s where the
comparison ends.
Access Orchestrate is a
fully functional production
planning and scheduling
system that delivers
far more than a project
management tool.
The batch footprint
Access Orchestrate shows how batches
mesh together, allowing you to solve
scheduling problems by seeing more than a
single batch.
Alternative routes
Access Orchestrate can manage alternative
routes that are not necessary for project
management and therefore not offered in
less sophisticated management tools.
Manage multiple products in the
same facility
A vital ability if you need to process different
products with a different batch footprint and
alternative routes.

11. Schedule multiple resources at
the same time
Simple project management tools will tell you
how many hours are needed for each resource,
but that’s not enough for production scheduling.
Access Orchestrate tells you what resources are
needed for each task and shows you clearly when
you need them, avoiding schedule conflicts.
Include the Bill of Materials
Take a Bill of Materials for each product, either
by reading it in from an existing ERP system
or by entering it directly into the Access
Orchestrate menus.
User specific views and
real-time updates
By defining views that are user specific,
Access Orchestrate can highlight different
areas of the plan to different people.
Link Access Orchestrate to execution
software such as Delta V or update
Orchestrate’s task status manually.
Both options allow you to set up views that
automatically keep pace with real-time events,
highlighting tasks that have been started, are
in progress or have been completed.

12. Why Access
Orchestrate
makes sense for
your business
With so many features and
functionality built into the Access
Orchestrate system, it’s easy
to get distracted by the detail
and miss the bigger picture.
But it’s important to remember
that this system will make your
manufacturing operations more
visible, more efficient and more
productive. That’s good for your
customers and it’s good for your
bottom line too.
Why not contact us today
and arrange for a free
demonstration. Once you’ve
seen Access Orchestrate in
action, it’s so much easier to
see the possibilities for your
manufacturing operations.
0845 345 3300
theaccessgroup.com/orchestrate

13. KPI dashboards
give you insight
to all aspects of
your business
Access Orchestrate is now
brought together through Access
Workspace, which transforms
the way you access information
throughout your business, giving
you real-time insight and analytics
on a single platform. Join up
your whole business - finance,
manufacturing, purchasing, costing
and warehousing software – in
easy to use, flexible dashboards.
Integration with
financials
Access Orchestrate integrates
with recognised legacy
accounting and ERP software.
But why not consider upgrading
to Access Financials or ERP and
take advantage of its increased
functionality and scalability for
when you expand?

14. Choosing Access opens
up a host of other business
opportunities
One of the key benefits of working with Access is that we
are not simply focused on developing stand-alone solutions.
We apply our specialist knowledge across the supply chain as
well as offering market leading software for core business areas
such as Finance, HR and Payroll. If you already have systems in
place, then we are happy to work with you to integrate our solutions
with those you have from providers.
However, if you are keen to rationalise your IT and, importantly,
your outside support and the problem solving that is required
when functions draw from disparate areas, then it’s good to
know that there is another way. Access systems can be
integrated with other Access software for smoother
operations across your business. Talk to as about
what that could mean for your business.
We promise to be
there if you need us
Our software is developed, deployed and
supported in the UK, where we have been based for
over 25 years. Which means that you’ll be partnering
with us, and you can talk to our people directly whenever
you need to. You’ll never be fobbed off with a remote call centre
somewhere else in the world – and that’s a promise.
About the Access Group:
The Access Group is a leading provider of business software to mid-sized
UK organisations. It helps more than 16,000 customers across commercial
and not-for-profit sectors become more productive and efficient. Its
innovative Access Workspace technology transforms the way business
software is used, giving every employee the freedom to do more.
Established in 1991, The Access Group, with an enterprise valuation of
£1billion, employs more than 1,500 staff.